Moving From Tropical To Marine?????

[Wotgoesup321]

at this point in time I'm closing down my rena 350l tropical tank to start a marine tank.
the problems I'm facing is:-
to drill or not to drill?
if i don't drill what overflow box is best suited to this style of tank.
has anyone done this with this type of tank pic's?

A friend is adapting my stand so i can run a sump underneath

pics to come

 

[Waters]

If you can drill, I would definitely go that route...that will be decided based on whether or not the glass is tempered. If not, than any overflow box will work, as long as it is rated to match your return pump. I like the eshopps boxes. I have ran tanks for years using those without any siphon issues.

 

[Wotgoesup321]

I'm hoping to make a start on it this weekend. Really can't decide .
Think it's fear of cracking or shattering the tank

 

[Big G]

I just drilled my 90g. Nerve racking. Lots of videos on the net on how to check to make sure your tank is NOT tempered glass - it will shatter. Drilling though was actually easy. My Eshopps overflow came with a drill template and drill bit - it is however setup for one of those rimless tanks, as far as how close to the top of the tank to drill. My tank is one of the older with the heavy black rim, so I had to carefully choose where to clamp the drill guides. All in all it came out great. Just don't push on the drill. Let it slowly grind through the glass until you see the water you are using to cool & lubricate the bit/glass and then put almost zero pressure on the glass so you get a clean hole without chips.

 

[Waters]

I'm hoping to make a start on it this weekend. Really can't decide .
Think it's fear of cracking or shattering the tank

Most good LFSs will drill for you....you can always try that if you don't want to risk it yourself. I have never drilled a tank myself so I can't offer much help there.

 

[Bdog4u2]

Drill it. the tank is empty so it's a perfect opportunity

 

[burden2626]

i would make sure not tempered and either take it some were or drill i drilled 2 tanks one cracked one didnt bad was i drilled one bought off cl and center brace snapped then one bought from store cracked i smaked the drill into it i battle my over flow some times wishing i drilled but better safe than sorry i did diy pvc over flow it gives me little issues when pump starts to get dirty but its prolly cause i need to clean more often i only have one week end off a month so cleaning is slacked on but other than that it cost 25$ to build always restarts and never over flowed yet

 

[Wotgoesup321]

Going to pop down and ask question

 

[beaslbob]

at this point in time I'm closing down my rena 350l tropical tank to start a marine tank.
the problems I'm facing is:-
to drill or not to drill?
if i don't drill what overflow box is best suited to this style of tank.
has anyone done this with this type of tank pic's?

A friend is adapting my stand so i can run a sump underneath

pics to come

IMHO drilling is not necessary. You could make a pvc overflow for like $20 which is just as safe as any commercial or drilled overflow. Or you could do an in tank refugium (just a partition) and forget about the external refugium/sump altogether.

The sump/refugium can be simple storage containers also.

If you going from tropical to marine hopefully you have some experience or knowledge of planted FW tanks. There is an equivalent in the marine world with macro algae or even hair algae with an algae turf scrubber. With marine you use those to balance out and stabilize operation for much the same reasons as FW plants.

IMHO a lot of the "expense" of marine system comes from ignoring that fact. Live rock, sand, filters, skimmers and so on are not necessary in a marine/reef system balanced out with macros and algae.

To make matters all the more confusing (to former fw people) common male mollies can be used to establish saltwater system. Better to lose a $3 molly then a $30 marine only fish. but then the idea is not to lose either. Which is the norm with macro alagae in control.

my .02

 

[Wotgoesup321]

Cheers for reply
Do you have any pics of the pvc pipe, I have an idea but not 100% sure

 

[burden2626]

this is what i used but i siliconed wier into tank befor i did any thing

 

[burden2626]

i just hid mine be hind the rock wall on the left cant see it to much and i figured any you can see corline will hide it

 

[beaslbob]

Cheers for reply
Do you have any pics of the pvc pipe, I have an idea but not 100% sure

here is a schematic:

 

[beaslbob]

so basically the water is trapped in "these pipes are always full" and will drain down to the water level power off with no power. That level is determined by height of the final "u" before draining to the sump. when power returns the tank level rises above that point and the water "overflows" down to the sump.

In order for that to work there has to be an "air hole" at the top of the 'U' before the final drain. Otherwise you would eventually form a constant syphon and drain the tank down to the bottom of the pipe in the tank.

You could also add another larger pipe around the tank pipe to do some surface skimming like in the previous post. In that case the running height would be determined by that pipe not the one all the way to the right.

One consideration is starting the system specifically filling up the over the tank pipe. I use a powerhead with a "bubbler" to suck out the air through an air line. maxijet series does that.

Another consideration is that you do need to prime the "trap" section before the final drop. So you must be able to add water there. the previous design ran pipe up to add water. I used a nipple, and flex tubes from the return pump and a couple of valves. During priming I turned the valves to add water to that section. After priming I returned the valves to return the water to the tank.

That all seems complicated but it does work as does the design from the previous poster.

You may want to experiment in the driveway or garage with some cheapie storage containers to make sure it all works.

Or pay a couple of hundred bucks for a commercial version. But then even with that you still have to do the same testing to insure there are no floods.

my .02

 

[burden2626]

be sure to make it air tight i battled that for a min till i figured i was sucking very little air in it worked but backed up slowly till i sealed it good mine backs up little now when its time to clean everything it never just over flowed it would slowly back up like days thats when i know it needs a good hot rinse i bought a little basket from dollar store and cut it to fit around wier and it sticks out of water slightly and off the weir some so if algea builds up it still has space to go around so it dont clogg it up i did a diy algea scubber and since then never had algea issues at all

 

[beaslbob]

Whatever you use be sure to make the following tests and adjustments.

1) power off. no floods in sump. especially through the pumped return pipes. Have the outputs above the water line or drill small anti siphon holes point down above the water line.

2) power return. Normal operation returns without floods. most common problem is loss of siphon on HOB systems.

3) drain failure. (could be loss of siphon or drain blockage). Insure display does not flood. The pump should run our of water before the display floods.

my .02